


Closing the Distance

by supercsi4



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 07:34:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23347762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercsi4/pseuds/supercsi4
Summary: Post 01x17 Stranger Beside You
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	Closing the Distance

It was a rough day, an awful day, one of the worst in a while. Not only did Malcolm feel like shit, he was getting over a bad sinus infection, and today’s case was tough. Malcolm didn’t like any cases where kids were involved with the possibility of them getting hurt. This case was extra stressful for him. If anything had happened to baby Nina today, he never would have forgiven himself.

Yesterday Malcolm was hopefully, maybe even a little happy. He was dating Eve and things were going great, a little too great, the pessimist in him warned. He had a dream last night that Eve was hiding something from him and waking up this morning to her locking her briefcase, was yet another hint.

He wasn’t used to this, a relationship, and what to do if he had reservations. Should they just break up, should they talk about it? First he went to his sister for advice.

“She’s hiding something from me,” Malcolm disclosed to Ainsley.

“Two weeks in and you’re already sabotaging your relationship, sounds about right.”

They agreed to each do their own investigating into Eve to see what they could find.

Malcolm was called to the crime scene, hoping to get his mind off Eve. But talk of marriages and babies always make you evaluate your own relationship.

Then Malcolm’s father had to call him in the middle of the crime scene, wondering where he had been, why he hadn’t visited after their agreement of two visits every 10 days.

“Uh, just been busy, dinners, plays…”

“Sounds like dates,” silence from Malcolm, “No reason to be shy,” Martin continued, “Is it that lovely lady partner of yours? Daaannniii?”

“No,” Malcolm quickly answered, “look I really can’t…”

“Oh come on, I can hear it in your voice. Love is in the air.”

Then Martin heard baby Nina crying in the background, so Malcolm diverted his questions and told him a little about the case.

Back at the station, they gathered to discuss the case and designate assignments out to everyone. As Dani walked out of the room, Malcolm followed her. Dani was Malcolm’s first choice when he needed someone to talk to, but instead he caught himself asking her to run a background check on Eve.

“You want me to run a background check on your girlfriend?”

“It’s a long story, starts with a serial killer father and ends with a whole lot of trust issues.”

“It’s wrong on so many levels.”

“Guess you didn’t get the trust issues joke?” Malcolm nervously laughed. Usually Dani would do anything for Malcolm, but this was crossing a line, personally and professionally.

“If you’re having doubts about Eve, I’m not going to be the one who confirms them. You can screw things up all on your own.” The truth was, Dani was jealous. The past two weeks, Malcolm and Dani barely saw each other. Malcolm threw himself wholehearted into his relationship with Eve. And good for him, he deserved it. But Dani didn’t like her, Dani knew Eve wasn’t right for Malcolm, that she didn’t have the patience to deal with him, and always knew something was suspicious about her. But it was none of her business. If Malcolm was truly happy, then maybe it would work out for him. Otherwise, he’d eventually come around and seek out Dani’s friendship again.

Then JT approached Malcolm, after Dani had told JT about the background check Malcolm had asked her to run on Eve. JT admitted that he ran a background check on all the girls he dated. JT gave the best advice, told Malcolm to just be honest with Eve.

“Honest like, I’m sorry Eve, I’m a profoundly suspicious person and afraid that everything good in my life is hiding some terrible lie.”

“Maybe not that honest, just let her know how you feel. You don’t want a relationship built on secrets.”

Malcolm thought, _should a relationship really be this hard?_ He can be honest with Dani, would tell her anything, would trust her indefinitely. Why couldn’t he feel the same about Eve?

But then Ainsley and his mother dropped the atomic bomb on Malcolm. 

“What did you find?” Malcolm asked Ainsley, anxious to find out, but also terrified.

“She is a human right attorney and her name is Eve Blanchard, but we think she infiltrated the family to get information on the surgeon and his victims.”

 _Of course_ , Malcolm thought, _a beautiful woman like that would never fall for someone like me._ His heart was broken. As much as he knew something was off with Eve, deep down, he didn’t want to believe it, he wanted his chance to be happy, to be in a healthy relationship.

“I think Eve is connected to the girl in the box.” It just keeps getting worse.

Then Eve walked in and startled them, confirming their suspicions, “She’s my sister.”

Eve claimed she was there to explain herself, but then just left after hearing they had already made up their minds about her. Malcolm was so confused, so hurt, so angry. He already had tremendous trust issues and now the woman his was dating, who he was sleeping with, sharing his life with, was just using him to find out answers about her sister.

But could he really blame Eve, or was something just wrong with him and his family? Maybe he was destined to be alone forever. You know who he really wanted to turn to right now, to wrap his arms around and cry on her shoulder? Dani.

And just then his phone buzzed, a text from Dani. If he believed in signs. He needed to see Dani and she had found the suspect in their case. Malcolm needed to get away from his destructive family and focus on the case.

Dani picked him up at his place and they rode to the suspect’s house in silence. Dani could tell Malcolm had been crying. She assumed this had to do with Eve, but she didn’t want to pry. She knew Malcolm would open up when he was ready. His hand was shaking and his leg bouncing up and down in the car. She reached over and placed her hand on his knee to still his movements. Malcolm just smiled and placed his hand on top of hers and that’s how they stayed for the remainder of the drive.

Once they got in the house and were waiting for the suspect to come downstairs, she decided to just let Malcolm know that he didn’t have to tell her what was going on, but that he needed to focus on the case. He turned towards her and took a deep breath.

“Eve was hiding something from me. Her sister was the girl in the box.”

Dani was stunned. Out of everything she could imagine was wrong with Eve, this surely wasn’t it. Why did he decide to open up to her now? In the middle of the case, in the middle of suspect’s house. Because he knew he couldn’t break down again, he couldn’t reach out to Dani for comfort. He’d have to bottle up all the emotions again and stuff them away. Dani was furious with Eve. Her heart broke for Malcolm. His bright blue eyes rimmed with red, his voice even deeper from being sick and crying. She wanted to make his pain go away.

The suspect came downstairs and they immediately went back to focusing on the case. They didn’t speak of it again the rest of the day.

Exhausted, physically and emotionally drained, Malcolm went home, but barely slept.

Early the next morning, Dani texted him that she was coming over with breakfast. Dani didn’t give him the choice to say no. They had closed the case, she gave him the night to unwind, but knew he needed someone to talk to.

Malcolm wandered into the kitchen to make some tea, but instead, discovered Eve leaving his spare key and a note on the kitchen counter.

“What does it say?” Malcolm asked her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d be home.”

“Solved my case last night.”

“That’s good… It’s an explanation,” Eve pointed at the note.

“Does it explain why you lied to me?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you… or your mother. I just wanted to get close to her to see if she knew anything about my sister. And when I spent time with her, I realized, she knew as little as I did. And then there was you. I didn’t know this would happen, how I would feel. I’m sorry.”

Malcolm didn’t know what to believe, but if Eve was telling the truth, he understood. He understood the need to find answers. Eve showed him a picture of her sister, Sophie, and he confirmed that she was the girl in the box. Eve broke down and Malcolm let her cry in his arms. He didn’t want to act like a monster and push her away, but he needed some consoling too.

“I brought waffles for breakfast!” Dani announced, letting herself into Malcolm's place.

_Dani!_

She saw Malcolm push away from Eve and was very surprised. Surprised that Eve had the balls to come back here, surprised that Malcolm let her. What was going on?

“Hey Dani. Eve was just dropping off my key and we started talking about me helping her get some answers about her sister.”

“I’m gonna head out. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Eve said to Malcolm, awkwardly kissing his cheek.

Dani looked like she wanted to murder Eve right there in Malcolm’s apartment.

Malcolm followed Eve to the door, shut it behind her and locked it. He rested his head against the door and just stood there for a few seconds.

“Sooo, you’re still seeing Eve?” Dani asked, standing at the kitchen counter unpacking their breakfast. She didn’t turn around to look for Malcolm, she wasn’t sure she actually wanted to hear the answer. But when he didn’t reply, Dani turned around to see Malcolm slowly turning around, back against the door and slid down to sit on the floor. His face in his hands, he began sobbing. Dani rushed over and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around and pulling him to her.

Malcolm had been holding in all his emotions from the last 24 hours and completely broke down, because he finally felt comfortable enough around Dani.

Dani’s heart broke again, seeing Malcolm in this state, she was going to sit here and hold him forever if he let her. Malcolm wrapped his arms around Dani’s body, resting his head on her shoulder, the stubble on his face tickling her neck. She rubbed his back and ran her fingers through his hair. She didn’t say anything, they just say in silence, listening to each other breathing.

Eventually, Malcolm’s empty stomach growled, prompting him to sit up slightly and look into Dani’s eyes. Her warm brown eyes filled with nothing but love and support. She wasn’t judging him or pitying him, she just wanted to be there for him, as a shoulder to cry on.

“So, waffles sound great right now,” Malcolm said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood. Dani smiled and stood up, offering her hand to help Malcolm to his feet. He stood up, but didn’t let go of her hand, running his thumb across her knuckles, he took a step towards her. “Thank you Dani. For everything.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Dani whispered. Malcolm was way too close to her, she wanted to close the distance between them and kiss him. She wanted to kiss him and make him forget about Eve and take all his pain away, but the bitch had literally just walked out of his apartment. Plus, were they still dating? She needed a few more answers. Dani released Malcolm’s hand and went back to the kitchen.

They sat at the counter and ate the waffles and fruit Dani had brought over. Malcolm opened up and told Dani about everything that had happened. How torn he was about wanting to help Eve, but also wanting to hate her. Their relationship was definitely over Malcolm told Dani. When they finished eating, Malcolm got up to wash the dishes.

“Did you love her?” Dani had been afraid to ask the question, but desperately wanted to know.

Malcolm dried off his hands and walked back over to Dani, still seated on the stool at the counter. She turned around to face him. He stood in front of her, looking down at the ground. “You know with every shitty thing that has happened, every single time, I looked for you, looked for your reassuring eyes, looked for your hand to hold. I didn’t realize how much I needed you until I was with Eve. How could I be with a woman, yet always be thinking about or looking for a different woman to turn to, to open up to… to trust.”

“Malcolm…” Dani breathed out, her heart was pounding. She held her breath, she didn’t know what to say.

He looked up at Dani and stepped towards her, so his legs touched her knees. She opened her legs enough so he could step even closer. He reached out to tuck her beautiful curls behind her ear, letting his hand linger. Her hand reached up to rest on his as she leaned into his touch.

“You know what else I realized?” Malcolm asked, leaning in, impossibly closer.

Dani swallowed and took a deep breath, she couldn’t speak.

“I have fallen in love with my partner.” Malcolm closed the distance between them, lightly pressing his lips to hers. Hesitant at first, he wouldn’t be able to handle it if Dani rejected him.

His thoughts and concerns were cut off by Dani’s arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. His hands found her hips, pulling her off the stool and flush against his body. Hands began to wander, clothes were thrown on the floor and they stumbled to Malcolm’s bed, determined to show each other just how much love there was to give.

Exhausted for better reasons, they both slept soundly that night, for the first time in years.


End file.
